Reggae Boyz midfielders Shane Crawford of Village United and Omar
Daley of Portmore United, have each signed two-year contracts with
United States First Division soccer team, Charleston Battery, and are set
to be in the team's starting line-up when the new season starts on April
29.

The signing of the two Reggae Boyz is expected to boost the team's
chances of improving on their ninth place finish in last season's
competition. Twelve teams participated.

Charleston Battery, the former team of Jamaicans Linval Dixon and Wolde
Harris, finished on 32 points in the First Division last season behind
winners Montreal Impact, winning nine of their 28 games, scoring 27
goals, while conceding 36.

Crawford and Daley are expected to bolster the team's defence line with
Crawford also expected to play an important role in attack.

According to Village United's manager Geoffrey White, the players signed
up two weeks ago and are expected to join pre-season training with the
team, based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Crawford's signing comes after a successful first season in the United
Soccer League (USL) in 2005 with Harrisburg City Islanders, where he
played left back, figuring prominently in the team's performance by
scoring several goals during the season and winning the
player-of-the-week award for week seven.

At the end of the season he returned home to rejoin Village, and helped
his National Premier League team to a top four position during which time
his artistry as a dead-ball specialist came to the fore, as he regularly
scored from spot kicks.

This, coupled with his all-round performance, earned him a recall to
Jamaica's national squad last October where he carried that form in a
match against Guatemala in Florida, scoring a brilliant curling free-kick in
Jamaica's 2-1 victory over the Central American team.

In the meantime, the signing of Omar Daley means that the Portmore star
player will extend his professional career to a second continent, having
spent a few seasons with English Division One teams Reading, who gained
promotion to the English premiership last Saturday, and Preston North
End.

Daley, 25 years old in April, has been a regular member of the Reggae
Boyz over the past few seasons.

Charleston Battery play their first match at home on April 29 against
Virginia Beach Mariners before hosting Miami FC with former Reggae Boyz
Onandi Lowe and Sean Fraser on May 7.